Electronic Arts’ newest addition to its most popular game franchise, The Sims, has quite a few new features to please the devout followers of this series. In The Sims 3, you have the opportunity to create a character (from attire to the arching of eyebrows) and lead him or her through everyday life — work, fun, social interactions and life goals. Most of these features have been staples throughout the three games, but with a fully loaded town, the transition between locations has never been so smooth. Feel free to lock the camera on your favorite Sim and sit back, watching them converse with new friends, cook their favorite meal or write the next best novel!

In all honesty, the last time I played a Sims game was when the original Sims was in beta, so my expectations for Sims 3 were completely blown away. For those of you who are fans of Sims 2 and the multitude of expansions, you don’t have the 10-year gap, so your experience might not be as riveting, but it should still be satisfying. My biggest thrill was the world! The game is not just a house that your Sim leaves occasionally to go to work, but a full city with a grocery store, a bookstore, a jail and beaches. Not only that, but you can zoom out while your Sim is travelling through the city and watch all the interactions of the populated city. If you have a family of Sims, you can send the kids to the park while the mom or dad go shopping — and switch between watching both parties, thus satisfying your greatest divine urges.

But enough about the town. The interactions between Sims were mostly amusing. I enjoyed the different dialects of the Simian language. My biggest complaint with the interactions (and probably the game as a whole) was inviting a love-interest over, having her spend the night but not being able to have her go to sleep. I could “Woo-Hoo!” with a woman, but afterwards, I’d naturally fall asleep (hehe) and she would get up and wander around my house complaining that she was sleepy. I could find no way of getting her into bed for the purpose of actually sleeping.

The overall concept of making money and purchasing better things for your house is addictive but strange. In the beginning, I spent a great deal of time tinkering with my household appliances and learning how to make them self-cleaning. The problem here is that it was completely worthless as soon as I upgraded because the higher-end appliances are all self-cleaning. Also, if you don’t want to drop the cash for the top-of-the-line merchandise, you have to spend more time making those less-than-stellar toilets, sinks, etc. self-cleaning. In a game that makes your performance pathetic without a good eight hours of sleep, taking time to re-upgrade your appliances is poor time management.

Not being much of an interior (or exterior, for that matter) designer, I’ve spent very little time with the seemingly robust design/architecture tools in The Sims 3. From what I gathered, the sky is the limit with what you can do with your money and imagination as far as building your dream house. Though I was pleased with simply swapping some floor tiles and painting the brick walls of my bathroom to something a bit less urban, tearing down walls and expanding your floor plan is very much an option. Purchasing new furniture, new lighting schemes, rugs, curtains and plants are all part of the package. And if that’s not enough, you can go online and make micro-transactions to purchase professionally designed items from the EA team.

I feel it’s my duty to warn you that there is absolutely no story in Sims 3, save for the one you create. For me, there was simply no story, just an exploration of different game features. I wanted to see how quickly I could progress in my career, but I lost interest once it began taking more than one in-game night to level in art or writing. This was too much like reality as I had to spend a good number of hours out of the day working a job that simply paid the bills but kept me from accomplishing the real goals. When I would finish a piece of art or a novel (wouldn’t it be nice to have a few novels out there bringing in some amount of money on a weekly basis), the amount I could make selling it would hardly pay the bills. Add to this the actual aging aspect of the game, and suddenly you are a gray-headed old man without a wife or kids to carry on your Simian genes because you’ve been too focused on becoming a novelist and emptying your bladder each and every day.

Because Sims 3 allows for so many different lifestyles, careers, strengths, family sizes and goals, the combinations and gameplay are almost infinite. I could see myself pottering around with another character or two (perhaps an artist by day, master thief by night?) but ultimately, without a few friends playing online, I couldn’t possibly see myself playing this game for very long. Would I recommend buying it? This completely depends on your style of gaming: If you enjoy a full world that allows for detailed progression through even the most mundane aspects of real life, then slap down your money. If you prefer being part of an engrossing tale or fast-action shooting, you’re better off watching a friend play this for a few minutes and getting the heck out of Dodge with your greenbacks still in pocket.